The importance of genetic diversity - Page 2

I have preached the evils of lack of genetic diversity in show and sport lines for years. I acknowledge that skilled breeders can use various in/line breeding to set type but they invariably then go back to diversifying the genetics to keep from bottle necking. But overall, back massing is the most detrimental breeding practice in past 40 years for this breed. JMO

AMEN, Gustav! My showline bitch has certain dogs (Palme, Canto, etc.) as many as 12 times in the 6th and 7th generation of her pedigree.

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea is sadly mistaken.

Fortunately, she herself is a complete outcross (American showlines x German)

sunsilver, I have to disagree, I said it before and will say it again, genetic diversity is needit in a breed , not in the individual animal , most of mother earths animals are around for millions of years and they have far less genetic diversity in the individual animals, prblems there are thatdue to human interfearance their ability to wander of and make an outcross every so many generations is very much limited, so again there the problem is caused by humans

But Duke, you have to deal with humans in breeding dogs within society. So if humans continue to breed in such manners as to produce bottlenecks and backmassing , then the problem is lack of genetic diversity even though it's created by humans.

bottlenecks are not created by line/inbreeding, they are created by everybody running to the same stud, to keep genetic diversity in a breed you need to keep unrelated lines available and the only way to keep unrelated lines available, you have to line/in breed

Thank you, Jim! That's a fantastic article, which sums things up very well. 

Individual breeders can do as the article suggests (drawing the line at outcrossing to other breeds, of course, which would get them into BIG trouble) but until we get change at the top, I don't see a lot changing. As you said:

Needless to say, the rank and file GSD show breeders managed to remove Dr. Riser from his office and rejoin the pack of lemmings headed for the cliff, but their greed, power, arrogance and stupidity does not make them right.  

 

I recently came across an old book of photos of different dog breeds. It was published around 1915. Two thngs hit home: one, the way many of the breeds have changed in appearance, becoming more exaggerated over the years, and two, many of the breeds pictured in the book are now extinct.

Lemmings? Cliff?  I think Jim pegged it.


http://www.archive.org/stream/dogsofallnations00masorich#page/n5/mode/2up 

I would say genetic diversity is more prevailant now than ever before. Because of technology in communication. 40 years ago you only heard about dogs in magazines or word of mouth outside your own community. The price and availability of european dogs being imported to this country were only done by people with the money to research and purchase dogs. Information was limited and usually if someone you knew didn't have something you wanted and could see them work,you didn't get them. There was a family of GSD in the San Juaquin valley that a rancher imported, and for many years every time you saw a GSD it would be obvious where they came from. 100 miles was a long trip to buy a dog in those days. And there are still some of those same dogs around today
Hank

Actually, this is not necessarily "BIG trouble" as it is perfectly legal in Belgium for instance.
You can take a dog in the conformation ring and get an evaluation as "good" and be issued
provisional papers, which convert to full papers in a couple of registrations.

The KNPV people don't care, and falisification of registrations has not been that uncomon,
although is becoming more difficult with genetic tests.  Whether this is good or bad is open
to question.

Actually the concept of the formal "breed" is relatively recent:

http://www.angelplace.net/Book/Ch13.pdf

personally, i would like to see "approved studs"  in the same way that you see "approved stallions" for the warmblood registries.  something similar could be done for the dams.  stallions can be approved for different breeds and offer genetic diversity, yet at the same time retain breed characteristics.  the german shepherd originated from a mish mash of herding dogs in europe.  i see nothing wrong with going back to the roots every now and then, but only for the purpose of breed betterment. (belgian sheepdogs, malinois, dutch shepherds & the like)
pjp